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AND THE 



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BY fl CONFEDERIITE SCOUT 



WITH AN INTRODUCIION BY SEilOR DIINIE, MMM OF THE 

HISTORy COMMITTEE OF THE GRAND GAMP 

OF GONFEDERAIE VETERANS 



QAZITTI PRINT, YORK, ^^. 
1006 



Gift 
Author 
(Person) 






Senator DanieFs Introduction. 



Colonel John Cussons, of (Men Allen, is a typ- 
ical representative of the ''tight little island" that 
has sent forth its conquering spirits to the ends 
of the earth. 

Throughout the Confederate war, and in 
many scenes of adventure, he wore under his 
grey coat next to his heart the 'Xincoln Green," 
the badge of his nativity in Lincolnshire, Eng- 
land. 

Far-west adventurer, he learned from the sons 
of the forest, the prairie, and the desert, those 
astute metliods of war which lie at the base of 
all military science. 

Bv instinct a Confederate, and by adoption a 



Virg-inian, he found genial companionship 
amongst the hraves of the Army of Northern 
Virginia, and performed rare deeds of ''high 
emprize/' whicli, were they written out with a 
Hugo's ])en, would complete a quartette of which 
Porthos, Athos, and Aramis are already mem- 
hers. 

Colonel and Confederate veteran — scout, 
sharpshooter, staff officer and soldier of the line 
— a captive who w^alked coolly out of prison un- 
der salute of the guard — a sleuth upon the trail 
or a leader of the forlorn hope, as occasion sug- 
gested — country gentleman, combing the wil- 
derness around him into forms of beauty, with 
lawns and lakes and deer-park and gardens — 
author, ])uncturing the shams and conceits of 
*'some recent history" with brilliant and trench- 
ant ]^en — man of affairs, creating an enterprise 
which has found development on both sides of 
the Atlantic — John Cussons is a character as 
solid as he is i)icturesque — as valiant as he is 
modest — as full of ])oetry as he is faithful to fact 
— and as gentle in manner as he is resolute of 
purpose. 

Had (jcneral Cleburne remained a sergeant 
in the British army he might have been flung 



into a trencli among- ^^the unknown dead;" but 
his o-enius rose witli his opportunities; his splen- 
did acliievements bore him from rank to rank 
until, leadino- bis hosts upon the ramparts of 
Franklin he fell, sword in liand, amid the plau- 
dits and the lamentations of an army and a na- 
tion. 

Had propitious fortune borne John Cussons 
to the martial rank for which nature designed 
him. he too would have worn a general's wreath. 
Afayhap too it might have lain — like Cleburne's 
— u]:»on a soldier's bier. It w^as only a star he 
wore — a major's star — in the great battles of 
Northern Virginia — but that star shone with a 
radiant light wherever danger challenged or 
honor wove its imperious spell. 

By my request this splendid soldier and noble 
gentleman has written the paper which follows; 

It tells the story of the passage of '^Thorough- 
fare Gap," in the Bull Run Mountains, wlien 
Jackson, beleaguered near Alanassas, awaited 
with anxious heart the coming of Lee and Long- 
street. Tt sheds light on a most critical conjunc- 
ture, and it invites investigation as to the slug- 
gish movement of the First Corps when wings 
w^ere wanted to expedite it. 



We know how Jackson kept his gaze turned 
toward the mountain pass when the fortunes of 
battle were trembling in the balance, and we 
know how anxious Lee was that the march 
should be pressed and battle joined at the ear- 
liest possible moment. 

Colonel Cussons saw, and marveled at the 
long delay; and he "the spearpoint" of I^aw's 
brigade, led his sharpshooters over the mountain 
and attacked the outposts and skirmishers so 
impetuously as to stampede the right flank of 
the enemy, who, in turn, carried disorder to the 
main body, which promptly retired — and thus 
opened a way to the relief of Jackson. 

The late Dr. Hunter McGuire, Jackson's med- 
ical director, delighted in telling his comrades of 
the scene he witnessed when, at last, Longstreet 
was approaching — how John Cussons, galloping 
up to Jackson, drawing his long sword and 
sweeping it down to "])resent arms," told him 
that Longstreet was at hand : and how Jackson 
in intense feeling plied him with questions, and 
issued swift orders — ignoring the formalities 
and courtesies which are wont to such occasions. 

But I am writing too long a prelude to Colonel 
Cussons' narrative, so 1 sto]) here and introduce 

4 



him as he starts forth from Thoroughfare Gap 
on the morning- of August 29, 1862, to "find or 
make a way" and let Stonewall Jackson know 
that the pass was open, and that Lee and Long- 
street were marching to his rescue. 



Colonel Cussons' Letter. 



Forest Lodge, (xlen Allen, V^a., 

August 8, 1905. 
Hon. John W. Daniel, 

Senate Chamber, Washington, D. C. 

My Dear Senator: — I distinctly recall the in- 
cident to which you allude, and take pleasure in 
complying with your request. 

Tt was between dawn and sunrise on the morn- 
ing of August 29, 1862, that I was directed by 
General Law to take the scouts and sharp- 
shooters who had scaled the mountain, and open 
communication with Jackson. T was not to seek 
an action or encumber myself with prisoners, 

5 



but to press forward, with the sound of the guns 
for my guide. 

A point of instruction from General Long- 
street placed Jackson south of the Warrenton 
turnpike and at or near his old battlefield on the 
Henry House plateau. But this was a mere 
guess, as the event soon proved. 

From the beginning of Jackson's detour our 
communications had been uncertain and irregu- 
lar. The Jessie Scouts had been unusually ac- 
tive in cutting ofi^ our dispatch bearers ; so much 
so that a strons* cavalrv force had become nee- 
essary to perform the customary service of a 
single horseman. 

Many of these so-called "scouts" had clothed 
themselves in Confederate uniform, and were 
making short work of our guides and couriers. 

They wxre a ruthless brood — those Jessie 
Scouts — best forgotten, perhaps ; as indeed they 
should be in this instance were it not that certain 
features of Pope's campaign would be unintelli- 
gible without some reference to them. 

Well, it soon became clear that Jackson was 
not on his old stamping ground, — not on or near 
the spot where Bernard Bee, a year before, had 
bestoweri on him in battle ba])tism that immortal 
name, ''Stonewall." 



It was quite evident that the Federals were 
coverings the ground in question, for on reaching" 
Haymarket, there la}^ the plain trail of Ricketts, 
stretching directly toward Gainsville. The trail 
was fresh— only a few hours' old — and it was 
still enriched bv the debris of a hurried night 
march. 

This presented chances which seldom arise in 
the beaten paths of war, — chances which haunt 
the imagination and inflame the fancy of youth- 
ful warriors in their day dreams of victory — or 
spoil. 

It seemed "sinful;" aye, — -"a deliberate flying 
in the face of Providence" — as one of my fellows 
phrased it — to neglect so golden an opportunity. 

But my task was to find Jackson, and to lose 
no time about it. 

So I held a course more northward than that 
prescribed, and swept along the fringe of broken 
country lying back from the open road, neither 
attacking nor being attacked by the prowling 
bands which infested the hills and valleys on the 
southward side of the turnpike. 

Often, on rising ground south of the road 
there appeared ]:)atrols of cavalry, and occasion- 
allv a reconnoitering party of some strength. 



Tills also ])resented a sore temptation to my 
people, who longed to transform themselves into 
mounted infantry, and who had no misgiving 
on the question of a possible rear-guard. 

There w^ere barely a hundred in my little band. 
But they were the pick of two splendid brigades 
— men of proven nerve, and tested skill, and 
dauntless daring — men of initiative, enterprising 
and self-reliant — youths of adventurous spirit 
who carried into war the passion of the chase — 
liuntsmen, marksmen, foresters, deer-stalkers — 
men cradled in the saddle and familiar from boy- 
liood with woodland life. 

The onl}^ thing; to be apprehended was an am- 
buscade by Jessie Scouts — an ambuscade which 
might paralyze or destroy us by a treacherous 
volley before we could force a disclosure of their 
real character. 

To advance by skirmish line or deployed 
flankers was out of the question. There was no 
time for it. Celerity was the one thing which 
our mission demanded. 

So T had recourse to a formation which was 
taught me five-and-forty years ago — a formation 
which renders an ambuscade imi)ossible. My 
instructor, by the way, was Matto-Numpa, a na- 



tive American, who subsequently tried conclu- 
sions with a certain George A. Custer, in the 
lonely valley of the Big Horn. 

Do you care to know the method, Senator? 
It is very simple, and on many occasions it has 
served me well. 

You throw forward a single line, with an in- 
terval of 150 to 200 yards between your men. 
In that way ten men will give you a probe a mile 
long. Your orders are shouted from man to 
man, and your communications are instanta- 
neous and perfect. The leader holds his ap- 
pointed course, head up and with swinging stride 
— climbing the heights, plunging through the 
thickets, penetrating every hiding place that lies 
within effective range of your march. 

And in this connection it may be noted that 
"eft'ective distance" at a single object is some- 
thing less than one-fourth the actual range of 
your weapon. 

Now, Senator, observe the spirit of that march 
— its freedom, its sweep, its impressive audacity 
— no halting, no creeping, no field-glassing, no 
shelling the woods or beclouding the landscape, 
but everv fellow forging forward as tho' glory or 
supper awaited him. 



Of course your leader may be entrapped easily 
enough, but that springs the ambush and reveals 
its locality. So at worst 3^ou have sacrificed one 
man, and gained in exchange an advantage of 
position which you can hold until the ambus- 
cader deploys for defence, and then you may 
either join battle on equal terms or decline it al- 
together. 

As a matter of fact an experienced bush- 
whacker will be pretty lively in breaking camp 
when he sees "that long snake" reaching out for 
him. 

Now, if there is any secret in this alacrity of 
movement it is to be found in the simple prin- 
ciple that any man who is reasonably brave, — if 
charged with an honorable trust, and supported 
by the approving gaze of liis comrades, — will in- 
cur any amount of peril, and will glory in it too 
— for a brief period. T distinctly said, ''For a 
brief period." 

That was the method of Matto-Numpa. At 
short intervals, ten minutes or less, he would or- 
der the leader "down," and the next would have 
head of column, and so on throughout the rota- 
tion. Thus each man in succession would have 
the post of peril, the post of honor, and a spirit 



lO 



of generous emulation would inspire and enthuse 
them all. 

Senator, it is not so with us. Let a man lead 
a desperate charge or successfully head a forlorn 
hope, and Ave push him forward on every occa- 
sion. Of course, he does not last long, and then 
we feel so sorry ahout it that we trv to assuao-e 
our grief by talk of a monument. 

That was not Matto-Numpa's way. 

True, he was a heathen and a savage, but he 
would have worshipped such a fellow as Turner 
Ashby, and T tell you he would have kept him 
out of battle twelve moons in the year, even 
though he had to rip his garment into thongs to 
bind him. 

Well, we swung along in that way until from 
rising ground we could define the battle. A 
brisk artillery duel was in progress across the 
Warrenton Road. From the open woods about 
a mile and a half west of Groveton my leader 
reported a group of mounted men. about half a 
mile off and in open ground. [ galloped to the 
front, and the moment T cleared the edge of the 
v/oods the cavalcade came forward. Their for- 
mation and movement was irregular and my 
first thought was Jessie Scouts. The moment 



II 



they started for me I threw my horse on his 
haunches and held him with his flank toward 
them. They understood the gesture and in- 
stantly drew rein. Then a single trooper came 
forward, his sabre drawn, and we met in head- 
long charge, looking into each others' eyes as 
we passed. It w^as all right. He was one of 
Jackson's couriers, and I knew him. 

The staff halted as I pulled up, and Jackson 
rode forward alone. He was agitated. His 
face was drawn and sunburnt and his features 
were working. 

With scant ceremony T A^elled, 'Xongstreet's 
through the Gap, and I reckon at Haymarket by 
this time." 

''Who heads the cohimn?" were Stonewall's 
flrst words. 

And I answered exultantly, ''Hood's Division, 
General; those gallant fellows who led your 
battle at Gains' Farm, and who " 

But he cut me short savagely with, "What 
brigade, sir?" and his harsh tone stung me as a 
blow could scarcely have done. 

"Texas brigade," I said, perhaps sulkily. 

"Major," said the general, addressing a young 
staff oflicer, and pointing to the Warrenton 

12 



Road, "put the Texas brigade there! It's left 
on the Pike! Gallop, sir!" 

The vouth, with a swift salute, dashed in his 
spurs and bounded over the plain like a hunted 
stag. He was a lithe, handsome fellow of pa- 
trician aspect, with bold black eyes, a Mary- 
lander, they told me afterwards, Kyd Douglas 
by name. 

Stonewall, still in the imperative mood, in- 
stantly asked, or rather demanded, with curt 
insolence: "Who follows Hood?" 

And T answered, mildly, T hope, and deliber- 
ately I am sure, but with my blood boiling: 
"General Jackson, if you will recall the fact that 
the Texas Division has but two brigades — under 
its present organization — exclusive of the 
Hampton Legion — which has been recently as- 
signed — and that, as I have already stated, the 
Texas Brigade is in advance — I do not see how 
we can escape tlie logical inference, etc., etc., 
etc." 

But before T had uttered five words Jackson 
turned to another of his staff with "Put Law's 
right on the pike, his left here!" 

No need to say "gallop" to that one, for he 
was oft* like a shaft of li^'ht, and I sat there elab- 



orating* my point of logic, and staring into the 
shocked faces of the staff, and wondering in a 
half-reckless way whether old Stonewall would 
hang' nie np or merely shoot me. For of all 
commanders, Stonewall Jackson was least to be 
trifled with. Blue-light elder tho' he was — and 
man of ])rayer — yet on points of duty or disci- 
pline there never lived a soldier who could more 
promptly wield the knife of Ehud or smite with 
the sword of Gideon. 

But he simply crossed his wrists on the horn 
of his saddle, laid his face on the back of his 
hands, and apparently went to sleep. 

I sat there, waiting to be dismissed or disposed 
of in some way, and trying to think that he 
looked just about as absurd as T really felt. 

This situation must have continued for some 
two or three or possibly five minutes. Tt seemed 
an interminable time to me. And then that 
foremost soldier of the age slowly raised his face, 
and as T looked into his e3^es all my resentment 
died away, and from that moment T have loved 
him. His manner, his mood, his whole ai)])ear- 
ance had changed. His gaze was steadfast, but 
no longer stern. There was something of au- 
thority in his mien — there was always that — but 

14 



there was ])athos, too. The square jaw, the 
gloomy brow, the firm Hps, must have been 
there, but I was not conscious of them. His 
eves were moist, his voice low and musical. He 
asked many questions about our march. Its de- 
lays, the passage of the gap, the severity of the 
action there, the condition of the troops, the 
number of Federals at the Pass, and the route 
they had probably taken. He alluded to my 
method of handling flankers and asked if T was 
familiar with Indian w^arfare. And with deep 
feeling lie spoke of the bitter combat of last 
nieht — a stru9'£r]e in which so manv of his own 
old command liad fallen — the men who a year 
before on that same field — wliere they had 
turned the tide of battle — had made immortal 
the two simple words, ''stone wall." 

His officers told me later that for three days 
and nights lie had scarcely slept. From the day 
of his detachment he had been perplexing Pope 
by incessant maneuvers, — now offering battle, 
now eluding — at one moment holding the fords 
of Bull Run, and in an hour disappearing as 
though the earth had swallowed him — now con- 
centrating his adversary at Manassas, and anon 
hurling him northward by his daring feint on 

Washington. 

15 



The spot on which I found Jackson was at the 
foot of Stony Ridge, a httle east of Page's Lane, 
and harely a mile north of the AVarrenton Road. 
In a word, it was a good mile, nearly due west of 
the little village of Groveton. 

Jackson himself gave me the time — "nine 
o'clock" — but that must have been somethino" 
like ten or twelve minutes after the moment of 
our meeting. 

About half an hour later — that is, about half- 
past nine, a courier from Stuart galloped up with 
the cry that the head of Longstreet's column 
was at Gainsville. Soon after that written dis- 
patches came in, and by half-past ten a thin line 
of flankers came into Anew, supported by skir- 
mishers with their base on the Warrenton Turn- 
pike. This proved to be the advance guard of 
Hood's division, commanded by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Upton, of the Fifth Texas. 

By twelve noon the division was in line of 
battle. Hood's brigade on the right and Law's 
brigade on the left of the Warrenton Road. 
General Law's left extended to within half a 
mile of Stonewall's right, and this break was 
soon afterward supported, though not occupied, 
by Wilcox's three brigades, which had come up 

from the Hopewell Pass. 

i6 



As we looked toward the west, dense clouds of 
dust obscured the turnpike, yet we could see 
Longstreet's columns swinging off to their right 
and deploying into line of battle. This brought 
them directly on Pope's flank — which was in the 
air- — and some of us are still wondering why 
General I/Ongstreet did not then and there 
spring forward his long lines and envelop the 
enemy's left and rear. 



But Senator, tlie fate of that campaign pivoted 
not at all on the Groveton coalition, but on the 
passage of Bull Run Mountain at Thoroughfare 
Gap. 

That is a strange story — not yet told. And 
the military student of the future will have a 
strange task when he shall attempt to sift and 
reconcile the contradictory accounts on that sub- 
ject which sturdily confront each other today as 
valid history. 

Early in the afternoon of the 28th, the Federal 
general, Ricketts, took position on the eastern 
side of the gorge. Ricketts had four brigades of 
infantry, two brigades of cavalry and six bat- 
teries of artillery — an army of ten thousand 
seasoned soldiers, whose sole dutv was to hold 



the pass ag-ainst Long-street's approach. That 
rugg-ed cleft through the mountain was unas- 
sailable. The hand of nature never shaj^ed a 
sallyport more fearsome — more impenetrable — 
and yet General Ricketts suddenly abandoned it 
without a battle and without apparent cause. 

For some time the storv went that Ricketts 
''retired at sundown under orders/' but General 
Pope's chapter of lamentations effectually dis- 
poses of that theory. 

Then it was set forth, and is still believed, that 
General Lee rushed a column through Ho])ewell 
Pass and thus turned the Federal right, l)ut in- 
vestigation will show that the Hopewell detach- 
ment — Wilcox's cH vision — did not approach 
within five miles of the enemy neither did Wil- 
cox emerge from his mountain fastness until 
Thoroughfare liad been relinquished. 

Indeed, for so small a force to have gone forth 
unsupported on the Federal side of the mountain 
would have been criminally perilous. No such 
move was contem])late(l. The real object in 
seizing* Hopewell was to have an alternate base 
for forcing a passage by the main army. 

In fullness of time — that is tw^enty-three years 
after the war— General Longstreet, in ''Battles 

i8 



and Leaders," Vol. II., pp. 512-526, lengthily and 
deliberately recounted the facts — as he then un- 
derstood them; and that is that he carried the 
position by sending Hood's Division over the 
mountain. Even so able a military writer as 
Henderson accepts that story with unquestion- 
ing faith; as also does that most careful and dili- 
gent of annalists, John Codman Ropes. 

On page 517, ''Battles and Leaders," Vol. II., 
General Longstreet states that he arrived at 
Thoroughfare Gap "just before night." But 
General Longstreet is mistaken. His memory 
is at fault — unaccountably at fault. He reached 
the pass at high noon, and for four mortal hours 
he lay in bivouac by the roadside there, waiting 
for — I know not what. The troops were fresh. 
They had marched but eight miles that morning 
— from just beyond White Plains — with nothing 
in their front but a few squadrons of Buford's 
broken-down cavalry. A Jessie Scout, imper- 
sonating a Confederate guide, had attempted to 
divert the column northward, but had failed, and 
the detention — hanging included — had not ex- 
ceeded thirty minutes. 

When Longstreet arrived at Thoroughfare 
Gap tlie Confederate army was at the crisis of its 

19 



fate. Its severed wings must be swiftly re- 
united or Stonewall J^-ckson and his command 
must perish, and the campaign must end in 
direst disaster. 

In his "Manassas to Appomattox," pp. 173- 
174, General Longstreet says it was reported to 
him that the pass was clear when he first ap- 
proached it, and that later on news came of a 
heavy force of the enemy advancing from the 
eastern side. He therefore sent forward some 
skirmishers, but they were driven back and the 
Federals took possession. 

Here is General Longstreet's description of 
the situation : 

"Thoroughfare Gap is a rough pass 
in the Bull Run Mountains, at some 
points not more than a hundred yards 
wide. A turgid stream rushes over its 
rugged bottom, on both sides of which 
the mountain rises several hundred feet. 
On the north the face of tlie gap is al- 
most perpendicular. The south face is 
less precipitous, but is covered with 
tangled mountain ivy, and projecting 
boulders, forming a position unassail- 
able when occupied by a small infantry 



20 



and artillery force. As we neared the 
gap from one side, Rickett's Division 
of Federals approached from the other 
and took possession of the east side. 
This sudden interposifion of a force at a 
mountain pass indicated a purpose on 
the part of the adversar)^ to hold me in 
check, vvhile overwhelming forces were 
being brouglit against Jackson. This 
placed us in a desperate strait; for we 
were within relieving distance, and 
must adopt prompt and vigorous meas- 
ures that w^ould burst through all oppo- 
sition. 

^'Three miles (it should be five miles) 
north was Hopewell Gap, and it was 
necessary to get possession of this in 
advance of the Federals in order to 
have that vantage ground for flank 
movement, at the same time that we 
forced our way by footpaths over the 
mountain heights at Thoroughfare 
Gap. During the night I sent Wilcox 
with three brigades to Hopewell, while 
Hood was climbing over the mountain 
at Thoroughfare by a trail." 

21 



If we read General Longstreet's official re- 
port in connection with his ''Battles and Lead- 
ers" article, and his account as given in "Manas- 
sas to Appomattox," we shall find that his varied 
accounts are quite destructive of each other. 

For a number of years General Longstreet 
believed that General Ricketts retired during the 
night without pressure and, fortunately for us, 
left the pass unguarded. Later he accepted the 
Hopewell theory, but finally settled down to the 
conviction that Hood's Division scaled the 
mountain and won the pass. 

I have already said that the Hopewell detach- 
ment had no bearing on the action, and T now 
state that, with the exception of a hundred 
sharpshooters, not one man of Hood's Division 
went over the mountain. General Law's bri- 
gade started, and climbed the western side and 
attained the summit, but was called back, and 
only the disobedient sharpshooters went on. All 
the rest of Hood's Division returned to their 
starting point and filed through the then aban- 
doned pass with the rest of the army. 

Although the fate of a great campaign had its 
turning point at that mountain pass, yet the 
Federal commander. General Ricketts, has not 



22 



one word to say about it in bis official reports. 

However, in bis Fitz Jobn Porter testimony, 
R. R., p. 216, series I., Vob 12., be says : 

"I retired from tbe gap just after 
dark on tbe 28tb. I rested mv division 
tbat nigbt between Haymarket and 
Gainsville, and at dawn I marcbed to 
Manassas Junction. I left Tborougb- 
fare because tbe enemy was turning ni}' 
flank, and I left Gainsville because 
General King sent me word tbat be was 
retiring toward Manassas; tliat was 
all." 
Now let us turn to General Pope's report, as 
publisbed in ''Battles and Leaders," V^ol. 2, pp. 
460-494, and we sball see tbe situation from tbe 
Federal side. Tbe bour is 9 o'clock on tbat 
same nigbt of August 28tb, and tbe general is 
congratulating bimself on tbe crowning victory 
wbicb he is going to win on tbe morrow. Jack- 
son at last is surrounded, Longstreet is barri- 
caded, and tbe government may prepare for glad 
tidings. Tbose were not General Pope's actual 
words, but only tbe spirit of tbem. Wbat be 
said, wben tbe morrow dawned, was : 

''To my great disappointment and 

^3 



surprise I learned that King's Division 
had fallen back toward Manassas/' and 
that ''neither Sigel nor Reynolds had 
gone to his support ;" that "the route to 
Thoroughfare Gap had thus been left 
open by this wholly unexpected re- 
treat;" that Ricketts had fallen back 
from Thoroughfare Gap "after offer- 
ing ineft'ectual resistance," and that "an 
immediate change was necessary in the 
disposition of my troops." 

Later on, General Pope expounds his 
grievances more fully. He says he 
"was compelled either to abandon the 
Rappahannock or risk the loss of 
Washington." The railroad had been 
torn up, and bridges burned. Hooker 
was out of ammunition. Porter 
"neither obeyed nor attempted to obey 
orders," but said "his men were tired 
and the night was dark and there was 
a wagon train in the way." General 
McDowell failed to support King's di- 
vision at Groveton because "he wanted 
to tell me about the country, and he 

supposed me to be at Manassas, 

24 



whereas 1 had left for Centreville, so he 
started back, but lost his way in the 
woods, and there was therefore no one 
to give orders to Sigel and Reynolds/' 
etc., etc., etc. 

And now let ns o-o back to the ]:)recedin2^ even- 
in^:, and look once more upon that mountain 
barrier which towered between ourselves and 
beleag'uered Jackson. 

Tt is true enouo'h that, when quite ready. Gen- 
eral Long'street directed a series of desperate 
charges against the gap, but his assaults spent 
their force unavailingly, like billows on a rock- 
bound coast. 

And then at the moment of despair, a certain 
Confederate brigadier came into the j^jroblem. 
A glance at that frowning pass — that deep and 
narrow gorge, walled in by rugged cliffs and 
swept by artillery — showed him the hopeless- 
ness of direct assault. Rut General Law was a 
man of resources— a commander whose skill and 
daring had added lustre to Longstreet's name 
on every field from Cold Harbor to Gettysburg 
— a commander who, at outpost, or on the ex- 
posed flank, or in the van, or as rearguard, had 
habitually been assigned the post of peril ; until 

25 



in front of Round Top at Gettysburg he had 
hrmly protested against the frontal attack, and 
as hrmly insisted that the road to victory lay 
around the unguarded left of the Federal army. 

And for that outburst of insubordination the 
gallant brigadier was duly entered on Long- 
street's doubtful list along with other delin- 
quents such as Ambrose Hill, John B. Hood, ]eh 
Stuart, vStonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee — 
for each of whom General I/Ongstreet doubtless 
did his best — bestowing on them in full measure 
the compliment of his censure, the distinction of 
his disapproval, tlie tribute of his scorn. 

Let us return to the gap. Skirmishing and 
cannonading are still in progress, but tlie massed 
assaults have ceased. 

General Llood exchanges a few earnest words 
with General Law. and tlien, accompanied by a 
countryman on a rawboned horse, they follow a 
tangled path leading along the base of the moun- 
tain. The obscure trail is soon lost, the guide is 
dismissed, arid General Law, left to his own de- 
vices, acts in liis accustomed way. 

He flings forward his pioneers, his scouts and 

sharpshooters, witli instructions to find or make 

a way; and like stag-liounds from tlie leash, they 

dasli up tlie face of the mountain. 

26 



The general, swift!}^ deploying", sweeps for- 
ward with his brigade — at some points encoun- 
tering sheer walls of rock, at other points gain- 
ing ascent by climbing from slioulder to shoulder, 
but constantly ascending and converging to- 
ward the more accessible ways. 

The Federal outposts and skirmishers yielded 
to the impetuous rush, and the sweep over the 
crest of the mountain was so impressive that 
General Ricketts believed his riQ-ht flank to be 
imperiled by an actual turning movement. He 
therefore retired, and we followed his trail along 
the banks of Broad Run where we were glad to 
warm up our captured rations at his still smoul- 
dering camp fires. 

Just as General Law was passing the summit 
of the mountain he was recalled. ''The gap was 
open," they said. Of course he knew why it 
was open, and he shouted back a request that he 
might go on. But the order was imperative, and 
so he collected his troops and made a long detour 
back again, finally i)assing through tlie gap and 
going into bivouac at a point which he could 
have reached in fifteen minutes if he liad been al- 
lowed to complete liis aggressive turning move- 
ment. 

27 



The sharpshooters disobeyed the order to re- 
turn. They knew their success resulted from 
a mere stampede — this springing' of a surprise 
at dusk in a broken country — so thev edeed to- 



■j-. 



ward the eastern entrance of the gorge and took 
a strong position among the rocks, naturally ex- 
pecting a cavalry charge when the real nature of 
the situation should be disclosed, for that little 
band, those hundred riflemen, were the only Con- 
federates on General Rickett's flank. 

Never, perhaps, in all the tide of time was an 
unnoted stroke of war more fruitful of results 
than was that headlong" scramble over the moun- 
tain. 

Tt saved Stonew^all Jackson from destruction ; 
it opened the way for Longstreet ; it reunited 
Lee's army; it made the second battle of Manas- 
sas a possibility and an actuality, and it thus 
crowmed the cam])aign of 1862 with the best bal- 
anced battle and the most brilliant victor}^ ever 
lost and won on American soil. 

Had that dash been made a little later, or with 

less spirit, or with more deliberation, it could not 

have won its way. The Federals would have 

made good their seizure and lield their ground. 

There would doubtless have been a series of 

28 



deadly struggles around tb.e Hopewell and Thor- 
oughfare Passes, hut tliere would have been no 
second battle of Manassas. 

Thoroughfare Gap was the pivot point of that 
campaign, yet it is stih shrouded in doubt 
and darkness; and we could hardly blame a per- 
plexed student of it if he should indignantly de- 
clare that all military history is but "an accepted ' 
fable," a mere "distillation of rumors." 

General Longstrect, as we have seen, describes 
our situation as ''desperate," but adds that on 
the morning of the 29t]i we fortunately found 
that the enemy had retired, whereupon, he says, 
we marched through the gap and joined the 
forces of Jackson. vSee "Battles and Leaders," 
Vol. 2, pp. 517-518. "Our apprehensions," he 
says, "were relieved at the early dawn of the 
29th, by finding that Ricketts had given up the 
east side of the gap." 

There is not — there cannot be — a more as- 
tounding fact in military history than this for- 
getfulness on the part of General Longstreet. 

The campaign was at tlie crisis of its fate, and 
yet General Longstreet did not know that his 
own troops had won the ])ass at twilight on the 

28th, or that a number of liis troops bivouacked 

29 



on tlie eastern side of tlie mountain that nig'ht — 
amono" them, to my personal knowledgx, the 
Fourth Alahan^a, the Second and Eleventh Mis- 
sissippi, the Sixth Nortli Carolina, the Eight- 
eenth Georgia, the First, Fourth and Fifth 
Texas, and the 1)atteries of. Major Frohel and 
Captains Bachman and Reilly. 

The true hero of Thorouglifare — the officer 
whose skill and daring won that pass and saved 
that campaign was Major-General E. M. Law, 
who ought to he required, in the interest of 
trutliful history, to cast his modesty to the winds 
and set down the full and exact facts. 

This letter has lengthened heyond all reason, 
Senator, yet I cannot leave the subject without 
asking three or four simple questions : 

T. Why is not General Ricketts' Thorough- 
fare Report in tlie records? 

2. Why is it that no co])y of that report can 
anvwhere be found ?^ 

3. Why do the records neglect to mention the 
losses sustained by General Ricketts in this 
^l^attle?" 

4. AVhy is it tliat neither General Wilcox nor 
any of liis troo])s have ever claimed credit for 
that priceless service which historic rumor as- 
cribes to them? 



5- A\ by is it tliat General Pope, who l:)v hal)it 
is so direct in censure, l:>1anies no one by name for 
the loss of Tboron|o-hfare, but contents himself 
witli the assertion that Ricketts was faultless, 
and that the real delinquents were certain un- 
named comnian_ders who ne^-lected to reinforce 
him ? 

6. Why, if the orders of General Ricketts 
were simply "to withdraw at sunset" — why did 
hie make tliat wild nigiit march toward Alanassas, 
away from the battlefield, instead of joining- the 
nearb}^ troo])s Ayho ^vere beleaf^'uerino- Jackson? 

7. Why, in a w^ord, are the official records so 
o"rimly silent, or so scant of detail, wheneyer this 
vital point of that .ereat campaign is ap- 
proached? 

I'm afraid 1 shall never get an answer to these 
questions; and yet, like Miss Rosa Dartle in the 
immortal story, ''I should so much like to know," 
you know, 

Faithfully, 

Your friend and comrade, 

JOHN CUSSOXS, 
In those days Commander of Scouts and Sharp- 
shooters, Law's Brigade, Hood's Division, 
Lee's Army. 



